Tell Me A Story
by Erumaren
Summary: I suppose at some point or other, every author has created a place for all the miscellaneous plot bunnies that show up from time to time. This is mine.
1. Chapter 1

**Stars and Stories:** **Chapter One**

A single beam of moonlight illuminated Scott's room. The tropical breeze felt cool against his still damp hair, as he sighed deeply. A familiar ache settled in his chest as he allowed his consciousness to wander. A laugh. A smile. A far away voice. Mom. Scott sighed again and turned over in attempt to get comfortable. Their rescue from earlier that day had caused a lot of old feelings to rise to the surface. Feelings Scott was careful to keep under a tight lid when he and his brothers were out. Four days until the anniversary of the avalanche, that one fateful trip that had cost Mom her life in exchange for Alan's. Still unable to find a more restful position, Scott settled for laying on his back again and staring blankly up at the ceiling. He could still remember her, the way she brought a sense of, for lack of a better word, life, into any situation. Like that one time John had fallen off his bike when he was nine and had scraped up both knees pretty badly, or the time when Gordon was, hmm, about six and had come down with meningitis and had been rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Mom's presence had been the rock that had carried them through that ordeal, even when they thought they had lost Gordon.

Scott continued reminiscing until something pricked at his subconscious. Turning slightly he found himself looking up into the sky blue eyes of his immediate younger brother, John. Scott frowned slightly, the normally bright eyes were slightly duller and he could see where tears had trailed their way down his brother's cheeks.

"Hey John." Scott said softly.

John had obviously not noticed that Scott had detected his presence and jumped.

"Hey Scooter."

The use of his childhood nickname flipped the switch on Scott's "big brother senses" and he scooted over to make room for the younger sibling. John timidly settled in beside his big brother and they sat in silence for a few moments before John dredged up enough courage to speak.

"I miss her."

Scott glanced over at his brother before allowing his eyes to trail around the room. "I miss her too."

They fell silent again, unsure of how to continue the conversation.

"Hey Scott?"

"Yeah Johnny?"

"Will you tell me a story? About Mom, I mean."

The whispered request made Scott see his little brother not as the communicator and dispatch of his team, but as his little brother again. It occurred to Scott just how often he'd forget that while he and his brothers were operatives of International Rescue, they were still a family, and sometimes, they needed to be just that. Scott was silent for a moment as he thought of what story to tell his brother.

"I remember back when you were about, five or six. Mom had just gotten the call from the hospital that you had been admitted with a broken arm and concussion. Virge Looked ready to explode right then and there." Scott chuckled. "Anyway..."

 _Their mother ended the call and put her phone in her pocket. Glancing down at her two sons, gazing up at her expectantly._

 _"Scotty, I need you to stay here with Virgil until your father comes home." she said grabbing her keys and heading for the door._

 _"Where are you going?" the question had come from her second youngest but she could see it reflected in the face of her first born as well._

 _"John had an accident and can't get home." She said pulling on her coat._

 _"Is he hurt?" asked Virgil._

 _"Yes, I'm going to pick him up. You boys be good." Lucy called as she walked out the door._

 _Scott and Virgil shared a look then slunk into the living room to resume the movie they had been watching._

 _Ten minutes later, the two heard the front door open and they abandoned their activity instantly._

 _"Johnny!"_

 _"Hey guys," he replied in a small voice. Virgil and Scott gave their brother a once over and Lucy shooed them off as she took John to the bathroom._

 _Virgil and Scott tagged along and were anxiously peering around the door as Lucy fussed over their brother. The knees in his pants were shredded, and once they were off, were discarded immediately. John hissed as the fabric rubbed against the scrapes on his knees, and looked like he was going to cry again._

 _"It's okay Johnny," assured Lucy giving her second oldest a hug. "That must have been quite a tumble."_

 _John nodded and Virgil, who had moved closer to watch their mother, gave his big brother an encouraging smile._

 _"How did you crash?" Scott asked as Lucy spritzed John's knees with an antiseptic spray._

 _John winced, as Lucy put two large band-aids over his knees. "I wasn't watching where I was going and fell into the ditch."_

 _"Well," said Lucy, alleviating the tension in the room, "Why don't you boys wash up and I'll make some sandwiches for lunch?"_

 _Her suggestion was enthusiastically received and she watched with a smile as her three boys dashed off down the hall._

John laughed, "I remember that. Man, but that spray did sting though."

Scott smiled. "I wonder if that's what started Virge on his path to becoming the Tracy medical overlord."

"Possibly." John yawned.

"Tired?"

"Mhm."

Scott ran a hand through his brothers copper hair. "Go to sleep."

John heaved himself up and looked back at his brother.

"Thanks Scooter."

"Anytime, space face."

"Hey!"

"Shush, you'll wake the others."

"Not Virge, he'll sleep through the apocalypse."

"Fair enough, now go to bed."

"Yes, mum."

"Good night."

"Night."


	2. Chapter 2

**Stars and Stories: Chapter Two**

Scott yawned and then, paused. The house was quiet, why was it so quiet? Cautiously opening his door, he stuck his head into the hallway and looked around. Sunlight was streaming in and yet, not a soul in sight. There was definitely something fishy going on here. Speaking of fish, what was that smell? Scott wrinkled his nose, whatever it was, it was giving off an odor of tremendously revolting proportions.

The quiet lasted for about five seconds more before a loud thud and a shout broke the silence.

"Gordon!"

Scott grinned, it wasn't rocket science to guess what had happened. Once again it seemed one of the family had run afoul of the resident prankster, today's victim, judging by the general direction from which the shout had originated, was Virgil. Scott couldn't help but wonder what exactly his younger brother had done to initiate such retribution from the second youngest of the family. As luck would have it, he didn't have to wait long.

"I'm going to drown that kid, I swear." Scott had to try hard not to laugh at the state Virgil was in. Covered head to toe in what appeared to be oil, fish oil, his nose supplied helpfully, he left a trail as he stalked off in search of Gordon. It was at this moment that Scott also noticed the fact that lodged in his brother's hair were several small sardines. His snort of laughter did not pass unnoticed.

"Have you seen Gordon, Scott?" Virgil glowered up at his brother.

"Sorry bro, I haven't seen the fish at all yet today." he replied with a rather conspicuous grin.

"Well, if you do, grab him and don't let him get away until I get there."

"I'll be sure to do so." Scott chuckled, "But you might want to consider a shower first, I doubt Grandma will appreciate what you've done to the floors."

Virgil mumbled something unintelligible and redirected his course to the shower instead of the silo's where he had been certain Gordon was hiding.

"Is he gone?"

Scott whirled around to find his water loving brother crawling out of his hiding place from under Scott's bed.

"How long have you been in here?" Scott asked.

"Since about four 'o'clock this morning. Virgil sleeps through everything and anything, but I wasn't about to go back to my room, he was probably going to check there if I wasn't in Thunderbird Four."

"So you decided to hide in my room…"

"Yup, there's only two other people you don't want to wake up in the morning unless it's for breakfast or an emergency."

"And those people would be?" he prompted.

"You and Grandma Tracy." Gordon grinned.

"I see." Scott said slowly.

A slight frown settled on Gordon's features. "You gonna call him?"

"Call who?"

"Virgil." Gordon said, slightly annoyed. "Remember? Looks a bit like a walking landmass, dresses like a lumberjack?"

Scott chuckled, "I might, you've got roughly fifteen seconds before Virgil makes it up here." he teased.

Gordon panicked for a second before hightailing it out of his oldest brother's room. Straight into Virgil's waiting grasp if the startled squawk he heard was any indication. Scott walked out in time to see Virgil dragging Gordon who was doing his best to talk his brother out of taking him for an early morning swim and possibly a watery grave.

"Come on Virge, it was just a joke!" he pleaded.

Virgil was stoically silent as he continued to drag his squirming brother towards the pool.

"Would it help if I said Alan was in on it too?" asked Gordon, "Actually, he was, the water balloon was my idea, but he suggested the fish oil and sardines. Come on Virgil, let go."

Virgil paused beside the pool as if debating whether or not to go through with his earlier threat. It occurred to him that if both baby brothers were in on the prank then drowning one might not be enough. Perhaps it was best if he left them both to sweat it out until he could get his revenge on both. Deciding this was the better course of action, he dropped a rather confused Gordon on the edge of the pool and walked away as though he hadn't been dead set on drowning his little brother.

Gordon scratched his head, "...live to see another day I suppose."

Scott had guessed that if Gordon was still in once piece, and dry, then all would be well with the world. At least until Alan graced them all with his presence.

The boys had just finished breakfast when John hailed them.

"International Rescue, we have a situation."

Abandoning the remainder of his breakfast Scott turned to his younger sibling. "Okay John, shoot."

"I've received a distress call from a vacation airliner over the Pacific Ocean." a display of the airliners location and rate of descent popped up. "Most of the passengers were evacuated but the captain says there may still be a few on board."

"Right, Virgil, take Gordon and get Thunderbird Two out there, I'll be right behind you."

Alan, who by this time was awake, peered sleepily down at his brothers. "Need a hand?"

"No, but we'll keep you posted little brother." Scott called fondly as he and the others headed for their chutes.

Scott took a deep breath as he initiated the take of sequence on Thunderbird One. He'd been doing this for a while now but every time, there would always be butterflies in his stomach. The amount of adrenaline pumping through his system right now was enough to make him feel giddy.

"T-Thunderbird One, you are go for launch." Brains voice informed him.

"This is Thunderbird One, launching."

Scott felt the familiar force of One's rockets boosting them up into the air. Not to far off he spied Thunderbird Two.

"You ready little brothers?" he asked with a smirk.

"After you big brother." grinned Gordon.

"We'll meet you there, Scott." replied Virgil.

Scott flicked a switch and added more thrust to the powerful engines of his 'bird and grinned as he broke the sound barrier. About twenty-five minutes later, Scott was flying alongside the massive airliner.

"Flight seven-three-three-eight, this is International Rescue. What's your status?" he asked.

A panicked voice replied that they had lost most of their fuel and their auxiliary power was offline.

"Are there any other passengers or crew onboard?"

"All passengers are accounted for, we believe. There are two crew still onboard in the cargo hold."

"Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird One, come in Virge."

"Hey bro."

"Virgil, drop Gordon so he can help with the passengers, I'm going to give control of One over to you and hop onboard. There's still a few crew members stuck in the cargo bay."

"F.A.B Scott. Dropping Gordon now."

"Thunderbird Four is go!"

Below him Scott could see the huge green pod drop down from Thunderbird Two and open to allow Thunderbird Four to launch. Switching the controls over to his little brother, Scott opened Thunderbird One's cockpit and aimed his grapple at the side of the airliner. Once safely across, he opened the emergency exit and headed towards the ladder leading to the cargo bay.

"Hello?" he called, "Anyone here?"

"Over here!" replied a voice.

Scott wove between a few stacks of luggage before locating the two remaining crew members. What he wasn't expecting however, was to find two perfectly fine crew, and one unconscious child.

The look on his face must have clued in the others as to what his thoughts were because they informed him that they had been on a routine cargo check when the engines had failed and some of the cargo had toppled over, their only clue that the child had been down there was the loud yell that had preceded the fall.

Scott checked him over, no outward signs of injury other than a few bruises and a bump on his skull. Something about the kid reminded him of his brother Virgil, that time in high school when he had been bullied on the football team for being one of the school's best art and music students. Apparently his teammates didn't think that anyone who excelled at anything but football didn't belong there.

Shaking his head to clear the memory, he concentrated on helping the crew dig the kid out from under the stack of luggage he had been trapped under and evacuated them to the small med bay in Thunderbird Two.

"Scott, this thing's coming down, fast!" Virgil's voice was tense as he settled the crew and injured teenager.

"I'm on it." was Scott's clipped reply as he made for the airliner's control room. He wrestled with the controls trying to pull its nose up.

"Flight seven-three-three-eight, this is Thunderbird Five. Scott you've got to get out of there, it'll blow up in the ocean, the only aftereffects will be increased wave activity on the coasts." John's voice said over the com.

"F.A.B Thunderbird Five." Scott beat a hasty retreat back to the emergency exit to zipline back to Thunderbird One.

Once safely aboard his 'bird, Scott pulled her away and watched from a safe distance as the airliner crashed in a rather spectacular inferno.

"Picking up Thunderbird Four. We'll see you back at the ranch, Thunderbird One."

"F.A.B Virgil." Scott shot his younger brother a two fingered salute and turned Thunderbird One homewards.

Scott sighed deeply and sank into the couch. Now that the adrenaline had run it's course, he was exhausted. He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander back to it's previous train of thought when he had been out on the rescue.

" _What happened to you?"_

" _Some kids were picking on one of the band students, I helped him."_

 _Seventeen-year-old Virgil looked down at the floor as though he were a seven-year-old who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Scott glanced at his parents before giving his little brother a look that spoke volumes on just how "not impressed" he was. This certainly wasn't the first time his younger brother had come home looking like he'd just come out of the blender. When both Mom and Dad were finished giving Virgil a piece of their minds and Mom had helped Virgil patch himself up, Scott approached his brother with his favorite movie, a carton of rocky road ice cream, and a couple of spoons._

" _Scott, stop reading my mind bro." Virgil said, equally astonished and apprehensive._

" _No promises." was the reply._

 _Comfortably settled in front of the television with the movie well underway, Scott decided that now was as good a time as any to figure out what was really going on with his brother at school. However, before he could inquire as to how Virgil had attained his various injuries, Mom showed up and both boys made room between them so she could sit down._

" _Which movie?" Mom asked._

" _The Intruders." Virgil responded._

 _Silence fell before Mom pulled Virgil into a hug. Judging by the look on his face, Scott figured the action was unexpected._

" _What happened?" she asked, echoing her question from earlier._

 _Virgil sighed, "Some of the guys were making fun of Grey for being in band."_

 _Mom stuck Virgil with a look._

" _...making fun of me.." he amended._

" _Why?" Scott couldn't help asking._

" _They don't think that kids who excel at anything but football belong on the team." Virgil explained._

" _So that's how your music and art grades fell." Mom sounded like some of her unspoken questions had been answered by his little brother's response._

 _Virgil nodded and did his best to curl up as if he wanted to disappear into the couch. Mom ran her fingers through his dark hair and Scott noticed his brother's shoulders shaking. He reached out and placed a comforting hand on Virgil's shoulder._

" _Honey, you should have told someone." Mom said softly. "Why didn't you?"_

 _Virgil's silence said far more than words could ever convey. Scott felt a blinding rage building up, what he wouldn't give to have the chance to tell Virgil's teammates just what he thought about their bullying his little brother. He was dragged from his thoughts when Virgil pulled away from his grip which had turned vice like on his shoulder._

" _Sorry Virge." Scott apologized quickly._

" _S'okay."_

 _Mom shifted and held Virgil at arms length. "Virgil, the next time something like this happens, I want you to tell someone. The coach, a teacher, even your counselor."_

 _Virgil didn't respond and looked down. Mom gently squeezed his shoulders, "Virgil." she prompted._

" _I will Mom, I promise."_

" _Good boy, now. I'll leave you two to watch your movie. I'll send Gordon up when it's time for dinner."_

" _Okay Mom."_

" _Thanks Mom."_

"Shhh, we don't want to wake him up."

"Dude, it's Scott, he'd wake up if a dust particle landed on his nose."

Scott had to try hard not to smirk at Alan's comment.

Silence. "Gordon, what are you doing?!"

"Relax man, I've got this."

"Bad idea bro. You know what he's like when you wake him up…"

"Virge, seriously, chill."

An ice cold drop of water landed on Scott's forehead. _Okay little brother's so you wanna play this game…_ Scott bit back a chuckle and forced himself to maintain the illusion of sleep.

"Bro, how?" Scott could picture the astonished look on his baby brother's face.

"I told you I had this."

 _Careful what you wish for Gordo._ Scott allowed the grin he'd been fighting against to skim briefly over his face.

Virgil must have noticed for he had fallen silent, and if Scott listened carefully, he could hear his brother's soft retreating footsteps. _Good move._ Another drop of water splashed onto his face and this time Scott reacted with lightning reflexes, pinning Gordon to the ground he began to tickle his younger brother mercilessly.

"No! Stop, Alan help me!" Gordon gasped between fits of laughter.

Alan was in no better shape as he had collapsed onto the recently vacated couch in order to prevent his own inevitable collision with the floor as he too was in tears. Virgil stood just behind the couch, a massive grin lighting up his face.

Scott finally relented and let Gordon up, the younger Tracy's face was nearly as red as Thunderbird Three and his chest was heaving as he gasped down air.

"You mustn't go poking dragons little brother." Scott said with a mock scowl.

Gordon was too out of breath to reply but Scott was fairly certain he'd gotten his point across.

"John's going to love this."

All four brothers turned to look at Kayo, how long had she been standing there?

"Hi Kayo, um, just how long have you been standing there?" inquired a pink faced Gordon.

"Long enough." she said with a sly smile.

"You aren't really going to show that to John are you? Please say no…"

Kayo and Scott shared a look and Scott nodded.

"Hey John," Kayo said to her com, "I've got something for you."

"Hey!" Gordon launched himself after the swiftly retreating figure, leaving his brothers in yet another fit of laughter.

"It's good to see you boys enjoying yourselves." Grandma's voice was warm.

Scott and Virgil grinned whilst Alan fought to contain his giggles.

"When Alan's done giggling, why don't you come and help me make dinner?" she offered.

Knowing the dangers of leaving Grandma Tracy to her own devices in the kitchen, the three boys jumped at the opportunity to help out.

Once everyone had eaten and either retreated to the outdoors, their rooms, or in Brains' case, his lab. Scott found himself wandering in the direction of his brother Virgil's room. He paused before tapping lightly against the door.

"Hey Virge, may I come in?"

His affirmation was mumbled, Scott turned the handle and let himself in.

Virgil was stood behind his easel, brow creased in concentration as he guided his brush over the canvas. Scott was careful not to disturb his little brother any more than he had to. Settling down on the edge of Virgil's bed and he leaned over to get a glimpse of what Virgil was painting. Scott's breath caught in his throat, the picture was of two silhouettes standing next to what he recognized as the house he and his brothers had been raised in. He could tell by the darker shades of color Virgil was using that his brother was attempting to put his feelings to paper.

"Whatever happened to those bullies?" Scott asked.

Virgil paused. "What?"

"Those kids on the football team who were teasing you, what happened to them?" he clarified.

More silence and Virgil's brush stilled. "They were expelled." he replied simply and resumed his painting.

"Oh?"

His brother sighed, "The day after we had that talk with Mom, a few of the kids approached me and said that they would overlook my "weakness" if I'd help them out with something."

Scott was quiet and kept his attention fixed on his brother, silently encouraging him to continue.

"They wanted me to go with them off campus and meet up with someone. Turns out that "someone" was their steroids dealer and they were trying to get me to be quiet."

"So what'd you do?"

"Told them I'd think about it then went to find my counselor. I told him what was going on and he reported them to the principal who expelled them."

Scott looked down at the floor, then to his brother's painting, and finally, at his brother. He was surprised to see Virgil looking back at him, paints and brush abandoned. Instinctively he held out his arms and was rewarded with his younger brother hugging him as though Scott would vanish the instant he let go.

"I miss her Scotty." Virgil whispered.

"So do I little brother." Scott whispered back, resting his head on Virgil's.

As the evening turned to night, a bright full moon found the two brother's sleeping soundly together in Virgil's room. Back to back, each with a smile on his face and content with the fact that, even though their mother was gone, they still had each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Once upon a time, an actor walked into a coffee shop. It wasn't your average coffee shop, more of a hole in the wall than your everyday bustling streetside bistro. The actor walked up to the counter and eyed the menu.

"Hello, be with you in a minute!" called the barista.

The actor nodded and returned his attention to the extensive list of beverages. The small bell attached to the door announced the arrival of another customer. Oblivious to the world as he was trying to decide if he wanted the house special, a vanilla and caramel freeze, or a blueberry and acai smoothie, he was shocked from his musing when a waterfall of ice cold coffee dropped onto his head. He blinked coffee from his eyes and looked up to the balcony.

"Oops, my bad." Laughed a young woman, in between fits of laughter she asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." he smiled, "In fact, that was most refreshing."

Ignoring the strange looks he was receiving, the actor made his way up to the woman on the balcony and kissed her on the cheek.

"You know," he whispered into her hair, "you could have just texted."

She nodded, "But where's the fun in that?"

His only response was to roll his eyes and kiss her again.

"I love you."

 **A/N:**

 **Hello my lovelies, I hope you enjoy this next installment of** ** _Tell Me A Story_** **. I apologise for the lack of new chapters, I have been busy with school and other things. I will endeavor to provide you with more content. Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: My dearest readers, I would like to apologize (again) for the lack of updates on any and all of my stories. But to make up for it, I have found a way to overcome my major case of writers block and have created the following for your enjoyment. Please note that some of the lines are directly from the show itself, in which case I would like to say that I do not claim any of the Thunderbirds for myself (as many fans before have said, it would be a dream come true) the Thunderbirds belong to their original creators and I am merely borrowing them for the amusement of others in hopes of bringing a smile to someones's face. I would also like to point out that unlike some of the previous segments in**_ **Stars and Stories** ** _where Scott reminisces of when he and his brothers were much younger that this is not the case in this particular addition. Comments and Criticisms are always welcome._** _ **Now, without further adieu, I am proud to present the next installment of**_ **Stars and Stories** ** _, enjoy._**

 **Stars and Stories: Chapter Three**

As Scott made his way towards the main tent, he heard the Professor speaking inside.

"We owe it to her memory to continue the work to which she gave her life…"

"What?!"

That was far enough, Scott barged in, glaring daggers at the Professor, he grabbed the front of his shirt.

"What's happened...are they-?!"

"No, no, no!" protested the Professor, terrified by Scott's tone.

"Tell me what's going on. Now!" Scott ground out, resisting the urge to break the man's nose.

"They're lost in the Pyramid." the Professor tried to explain.

Scott cut him off, "Why didn't you call it in?!"

"The other one said they'd blast the Pyramid wide open." the man explained, "I couldn't allow this unique discovery to be destroyed." he sighed, "I'm sorry, but people are just for a lifetime...History is forever."

Something snapped in Scott's brain. "YOU RAT FACED WEASEL!" he wound up to beat that smug look off the Professor's face.

"Woah, Scott!" Virgil called diving forward to drag his older brother away, "We'll deal with this later. Right now we have to find Gordon and the others."

With no small amount of effort, Scott managed to contain his anger. Cold blue fire burned in his eyes as he looked the Professor in the eye, "But you'd better hope we're not too late!" he warned.

Later, once all were safely back on the island, Scott let loose his pent up fury and fear in the gym. "Just for a lifetime?" One dummy went flying. "History is forever." A solid roundhouse kick decapitated another. "If he only knew," Hands flying, Scott's vision clouded over as he lost himself in the familiarity of the activity.

"Hey Scott, you got a moment?" Scott wasn't sure what he had been expecting to hear, but Gordon's voice pulled him from his rage induced training spree.

"Sure Gordo, what's up?" personal emotions aside, he could always make time for his little brothers.

Gordon held out the two bottles of lemonade and sat down on one of the benches. Scott walked over and sat down opposite him, thanking his brother for the cold drink.

"Oh, nothing' just heard Virge muttering something about being glad he had stepped in when he did." Gordon took a swig of his lemonade and looked at Scott questioningly.

Scott's face was pink, and not from the workout he'd just completed. "Well, I uh, that is, er…"

Gordon remained quiet and waited patiently for Scott to collect his thoughts.

Scott sighed, "When I heard that speech he was creating for Penelope's "funeral," I thought I'd lost all of you. Especially since…" he trailed off.

Gordon knew what his brother was talking about. The anniversary for their mother's death was just around the corner. Gordon glanced up at his brother who had buried his face in his hands.

 _Actions speak louder than words_ , Gordon abandoned his drink as he moved to sit next to Scott and wrap his arms around his big brother's torso. He felt Scott tense up for a moment before returning the gesture and pulling Gordon close.

"I love you Gordon, I don't know what I would do if I lost you, or any of the others for that matter.." Scott whispered into his hair then gently placed a kiss on his forehead.

"Love you too, Scooter."


End file.
